Color Series: Playful Violet
by Ryan Brooklyn
Summary: Angela Barry misses Cedric on her birthday.  When the Weasley twins try to cheer her up, chaos ensues. Set two months after OotP.  Edited for accuracy.


**Disclaimer: **_I do not own anything Harry Potter. Angela Barry and her mother are my only characters. Everyone else belong solely to J.K. Rowling._

**Rating: **G

**Genre:** Humor/Friendship

**Summary:** Angela Barry misses Cedric on her birthday. When the Weasley twins try to cheer her up, chaos ensues. Set two months after OotP.

* * *

**Playful Violet**

"Mum, do they have to come?"

"Angela, I thought the Weasleys were your friends. Don't you want to spend your birthday with your friends?"

I frowned at her and turned around onto my stomach, my bare feet crossed in the air behind my back.

"No." I said, keeping my gaze on the faded photograph in my hands. "I want to spend it with Cedric."

I heard Mum sigh.

"Angela, please don't do this again. You spent your entire sixteenth birthday up here staring at that photograph. I will not have you waste your seventeenth one the same way. Now, let's go."

I sighed and dropped my legs down onto the bed making it bounce lightly. I sat up and tucked the photograph of Cedric under my pillow where it belonged before sliding off the bed, slipping my shoes on and following Mum downstairs.

She had made arrangements for the Weasleys to come over for my seventeenth birthday without my consent. They didn't live far from us. But Ginny had expressed excitement at her coming over and I felt I couldn't disappoint her. I didn't know what it was like living in a house full of brothers but I could imagine she would be glad to have a fellow girl for company sometimes.

Mum sat me down in our small living room.

"Now, they should be here soon. I hope you don't mind that I invited the twins too. They're around your age right?"

I muttered an affirmative. Before Mum could say more, the empty fireplace suddenly glowed green and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley as well as Fred and George, Ron and Ginny appeared. I forced a smile. Mum greeted Mrs. Weasley warmly. They had only known each other for a short time, they met at Cedric's funeral, but already they were good friends. Ginny smiled at me and handed me a nicely wrapped present.

"Happy birthday," she said. "I made it myself. Mum's been teaching me."

I couldn't help but smile back as I took the gift. Ron then handed me his gift and Fred and George piled on their gift as well. I made my way over to the kitchen table and set them down on it. I bit my lip. My house suddenly seemed very small. The Weasley children were gazing at me expectantly. I held back a sigh and opened Ginny's present. It was a slightly crooked yet very nice scarf. I noticed the colors and frowned.

"Ginny, these are the Hufflepuff colors." I said.

She grinned. "I know."

"I'm in Ravenclaw."

She rolled her eyes. "I _know_." She seemed to be hinting at something but I didn't understand.

"Then why did you—"

"It's in memory of Cedric. I thought you'd like that."

It suddenly dawned on me. "Oh." I said sheepishly. "Sorry. Thank you. It's very nice."

She smiled. "You're welcome."

I folded it reverently and placed it next to the box. I turned then to Ron's present. He shifted nervously as I opened it.

"It's not very interesting. I'll understand if you don't like it."

I made a face at him. "Nonsense. I'm sure I'll love it."

It was a brand new cage for Cornucopia, my owl. I grinned.

"Now how did you know I needed a new cage?" I asked. My other one had been mysteriously smashed during my Sixth year.

Ron flushed. "Um, coincidence I guess."

"Uh-huh. Well, thank you Ron. I'm sure Cornucopia will love it and forgive you for smashing her old home."

"Oh good—huh?"

Everyone laughed. I reached for Fred and George's present.

"I wouldn't," warned Ginny.

I drew my hand back. "Why not?" I asked, puzzled.

Fred and George grabbed their gift and stuck it in my hand.

"No reason," they said. "Open it."

The grins on their faces filled me with trepidation and I set the gift slowly down on the table.

"It's not going to blow up is it?" I asked.

The twins opened their eyes wide in innocent expressions.

"Now what would make you think it would do that?" Fred asked.

"Just open it, you won't be disappointed." George added.

Both pairs of brown eyes twinkled mischievously. I sighed and carefully undid the ribbon. As soon as I did the box exploded into millions of confetti and small fireworks and a huge birthday cake shaped like the number 17 appeared on the table. I blinked.

"That was entertaining." I stated.

"We knew you'd like it," they said.

I shook my head in mock despair. "Who wants cake?"

An hour and three helpings of chocolate cake later, we were outside while Mum and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had tea inside. A stiff silence had fallen over us. My thoughts once again turned to Cedric. My face grew sad as I remembered my last birthday with him. I scuffed at the ground with the toe of my shoe and tried to ignore the face that Fred and George were staring at me with large grins on their faces.

"What?" I finally asked, exasperated.

"You seem depressed."

"We know how to fix that."

"Uh-oh." Ron said. Ginny grinned.

"How?" I asked.

"Magic of course." They said.

I frowned. "I'm not supposed to do magic out of school."

The twins grinned wickedly.

"You're not supposed to do magic out of school if you're underage." Fred informed me.

"Now, at seventeen, you're not." George said.

I looked at them skeptically, still thinking that anything the twins did would be breaking some rule. "Alright, what did you have in mind?"

Impossibly their grins widened.

"Ever Apparated before?" They asked.

Several spells and singed hair later, we were back on my front lawn laughing hysterically. Ron and Ginny rushed to us.

"What happened?"

"What was it like?"

"It was like being sucked through a vacuum and then spit out at the other end." I said, trying to catch my breath.

Fred and George gasped for theirs.

"You should have seen that storekeeper's face!" Fred hooted.

"I think we gave him quite an interesting day." George said.

I frowned at them. "I hope you are planning to return those sweets to him."

"Why?" Fred asked.

"We paid for them." They said in unison, tossing bags of sweets to Ginny and Ron.

I raised an eyebrow. "I didn't see any money."

"You weren't looking hard enough." Fred said, flopping down on the ground and getting out his bag of sweets. He popped several into his mouth.

"He'll find he has a few extra Knuts in his cash register." George said, following Fred's example.

I decided to let it go. I sat down also and Ron and Ginny did as well. Ron looked a little skeptical.

"You went all the way to Hogsmeade? Isn't that too far away to Apparate to?"

I shook my head. "We didn't go that far. We went to your house and then I borrowed your broom and they used theirs. Hope you don't mind."

Ron shook his head. I opened my back of sweets and dug in. Together we shared our sweets and swapped jokes. Fred and George had us rolling on the ground laughing until our sides hurt with their stories of past pranks and jokes.

"You know," I said when I had caught my breath. "You should buy that Joke shop or something when you graduate."

Fred and George exchanged excited glances. "Now there's an idea." Fred said.

"Fred and George Weasley, The Joke Shop owners. I like the sound of that," grinned George.

I laughed slightly, but I was sobering. I tossed a suspicious looking Every Flavour Bean onto the ground and sighed. The twins glanced at each other.

"Are you feeling alright?" Ginny asked, concern evident on her face.

I smiled weakly at her and figured the locket around my neck. The ache was coming back. Why did I always miss him so much? The others seemed to have moved on pretty well, although I could hear Cho crying sometimes in the night during our time at Hogwarts during our Sixth year. Maybe it was because she knew he loved her back in the same way she loved him. I had loved him more than just a brother, but he had been unable to reciprocate the feeling.

I lifted my downcast eyes when I realized an uncomfortable silence had fallen over the group. Fred and George exchanged another look. Fred patted me on the back.

"Cheer up Angie. It's your birthday."

"Right, Cedric would have wanted you to have fun."

"So let's have fun." They said together.

I forced a smile. "So, what do we do next?"

Ginny quickly spoke up. "And please let it be something we can do too."

"We explored a bit while you were gone," Ron said. "There's a lake nearby."

I nodded. "It's on our property."

Fred and George smiled. "Let's go there then."

For the next hour or so we wrecked havoc on the lake. Every animal in the vicinity was completely gone by the time we had finished. Ginny's and my loud shrieks could probably been heard for miles while Fred, George, and Ron's laughter echoed throughout the surrounding trees. Nothing went past those Weasley boys. I tried every prank I knew and Fred and George retaliated with much more skill and hilarity.

When we were all exhausted and the sun was setting, we lay out on the shore to dry, each placing our hands behind our heads and watching the sky grow dark. Fred and George were on one side of me and Ginny and Ron were on the other. Fred and George lifted their wands to the sky and instantly we were watching a fireworks display. I smiled, bringing one hand down to touch my locket. I then placed it next to me on the ground. Ginny, who was on my right, grasped it.

"Are you feeling better?" She asked softly.

My smile widened. "I sure am. Thanks for the scarf, I really like it."

"I thought you might."

I laughed as a firework cat chased a firework mouse around a firework farm women slapping at them with a firework broom. I heard Ron's laugh beside Ginny and soon Ginny started giggling. All three of us were soon cracking up for no apparent reason while Fred and George grabbed our encouragement and soon had the whole farm involved with the chase of the small mouse.

When we arrived back at my house the Weasleys had to leave. This saddened me but I was grateful for their encouragement. I hugged Ginny tightly as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stepped into our empty fireplace with the floo powder. I turned to Ron and thanked him again for the cage.

"I'm glad this one came without the bent in bars." I said as I hugged him.

He flushed. "Yeah, well, sorry about that."

I turned to the twins who were grinning at me. I couldn't help but grin back. I reached up and kissed both of them on the cheek.

"Thank you for everything," I said sincerely.

Their faces turned slightly red.

"Don't mention it." They said before Apparating away.

The rest of the Weasleys got out their floo powder. Together they shouted "The Burrow" and disappeared in a mass of green smoke.

"What a nice family," Mum mused.

I nodded. "They are." I made my way over to the kitchen and sat down among the piles of confetti. I lifted Ginny's scarf and wrapped it around my neck. It was still summer but I knew I would become my favorite scarf. I took Ron's cage upstairs and got Cornucopia settled into it. I then lay on my bed and slipped Cedric's photograph from underneath my pillow.

"Well Cedric, another birthday without you. I missed you but the Weasleys came over and they made me feel better. Ginny gave me a scarf with the Hufflepuff house colors. I hope I'll be able to wear it without any confusion. Anyway, I'll talk to you later. I love you."

I stared into his smiling face. Harry had let me make a copy of the photograph from the mirror in the Room of Requirement. I stroked it gently.

"Goodnight Cedric."


End file.
